My Christmas wish list....

LuCkY HoRse sHoE NEckLace at Gypsyville. Love this...

And this hat is from the same site. Momma always Tries!

oKay I love anything thing from Gypsyville.

I am also on the hunt for the perfect purse. I know my husband thinks that one or two bags is enough but just like shoes, you can never have enough, ever.

Here is da bag....it's on the spendy side but I love anything Diamond 57 makes. I saw her stuff at a craft fair this summer and fell head over heals. She makes these gorgeous bags from cowboy boots. They are to die for. The pictures just don't do them any justice.

I have been drooling over her stuff since the first time I laid eyes on them. Any of them would work. I'm not picky when it comes to these bags!

This one is another favorite.

Oh and one last thing. A new saddle blanket. Just because they are purty.

I really liked this one since it kinda looks like flames.

And this show blanket is gorgeous too..

I just love the colors.

Oh well, this is my wish list. Everyone should have one.

Before and after. A year can do a body good.

Grace the day I brought her home a little over a year ago. Big grass belly and messed up mane, needing some TLC and some training. She had just turned 2.

Hubba Hubba look at her now. She has really grown up and has turned into a really great partner, or should I say the partner she is turning into, with patience, love and a lot of money ;-). I have never owned a young horse and it has been an amazing experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat. (although my husband might have something to say about that)
Pics by Velocity Shots.

Where's Gracie?? Can YOU find her?

Can you see her? That's her splitting the cows...IN THE PASTURE...Can you believe it? She loved chasing the cows! She went out in the BIG pasture today for the first time and did GREAT!

This one is a little harder to see...her but she was having a great time.

Grace did fantastic. I was so proud of her and and very excited about her progress. Her trainer is doing great things with her...especially since she is a QH trainer and this is her first NSH that she has ever trained. I think they are both learning a lot from one another.

Tomorrow is the big day for our photo shoot. Gracie had spa day today....hair cut and shave...and the dreaded bath. When ever I worry about something she always shocks me...she did great with the clippers on her bridle path. What an amazing horse she is turning into.

It's not whether you win or loose....

So we did our first show this past Sunday. It was a benefit for a someone with cancer. Judged Trail Classes..

Now before I give you how we did in the standings let me explain the pattern...

1. Big Bridge (HUGE!)

2. Soccer, okay this was pushing a Pilate's ball from - here to - here.

3. Trot the polls

4. Grain bucket with grain sitting on big blue barrel of death

5. Take Grain bucket and dump into Grain tray that is sitting on a noisy paper bag

6. Take treat from lady's hand that is sitting with open umbrella.

7. Grab flag and trot, stop and bring big floppy flag back

Okay so we did in hand, all of the above. She did great well at least I thought she did. I was a little shocked at our low ranking here. But out of 15 horses she placed 13th. But we did it and there was no silly business. It was a lot of fun.

Now the Jr. Horse.....Big Bridge pass....kicking ball uh not so much, Trot poles did well, by passed 4 and 5, did awesome at the umbrella didn't want to leave (mooch), and we by passed the flag.

So we came in dead last...5 out of 5. But that's not the point the point is that we did it and had fun! We did win one of the raffle drawings - a lesson with Cowboy Joe! I can see a new post in the making!

So it was well worth the time and $$ Helping a good cause and spending some quality time with my Horsie girlfriends. Plus I am so proud of Grace. She handled it like a champ.

Look out world here we come..everyone starts somewhere.

Better late than never...

I finally sent in Gracie's papers. I've had them sitting up on my desk for over a year...finally sent them off and she is officially mine.

I am officially a member of the AHA, received my member number and everything. Don't know what that means but it must be good. Right? I can buy some flashy rhinestone hats off of the AHA official site after you sign in. I think that makes it all worthwhile.

So Yeah me and Grace!

Other Fur Friends

Just for fun....this Amber she is a Hell Cat. She is not too happy about me interrupting her nap to get a quick picture. Well to be honest she really isn't too happy about much of anything.
This is Abby. She is also non to happy about me interrupting her daily nap to get a picture.

I am really looking forward to this weekend. Sunday is the Benefit Trail Show. We may just tack up and make huge fools out of ourselves, but I'm okay with that. It's all good fun.

America's Next Top Equine Model...Auditions..episode 1

GRACE......Super Model in the making

The Action Shot....umm just warming up....she was worried she looked a little fat.
Profile pic with the always flirtatious pout (check out that lower lip)
The full body shot....SEXY....Check out those legs....the other girls at the barn love to hate Grace for these assets.
The artsy shot....B&W's are always so flattering.

And the money shot....this one is "THE" one...Cover girl! She has made the cut and will be grooming for her shot in the spotlight next week! If these are any indication of her potential as a Super Model....She's a shoe in!

Stay tuned...America's next Top Model Equine Edition coming soon....

I can not wait...next week Gracie and I have a photo shoot scheduled, time for a good clip and bath to get camera ready.

I went to a party at a friends house a couple of weeks ago and she had some stunning shots of her and her horse...large framed prints that were just amazing.

So I said...'T, who did these pics of you and Paisley, they are beautiful'

T says...'Well I know someone who is starting up and she only charges $80 bucks for the sitting and the CD with all of the photo's....'

I almost immediately called Jen and scheduled out photo shoot. Now mind you I haven't even had professional pics of my two year old sweet baby girl taken..

But as you can see from most of my pics on the blog when I ask Gracie to pose she thinks I'm asking for a Mule impersonation. No Grace be elegant...more Mule....Gracie please look statuesque and feminine....more Mule...

So I will for sure be updating out banner pic and if you are interested in your pony being a contestant..I will for sure pass on Jen's info.

Gracie the National Show 'Cow' horse...

As you all know Grace is in training at a Cutting barn...I know silly for a NSH but then again she's not in training for cutting the trainer is also an amazing trail trainer...just getting a good base put on Gracie...

So I thought this was funny.

She's in training to get ready for trail season next year, so our BO (who is her trainer) noticed she had some interest in the training flag she uses on her cutting horses. It looks like this -

Work that flag Grace....from what I hear she did great. Who knew a SB would like to chase things, like scary white flappy flags. She will eventually be put on a real cow just to see how she does and keep her mind active.

Next week l start having a lesson a week on Grace which I am very excited about because I haven't been able to ride her since she's started training. I didn't want to confuse her with my greenie ways. Time for me to get serious about some things, like the dirty 'D' word (Diet). I need to gain some strength in my legs and since I'm doing that I might as well drop a couple of dress sizes...

So there's a lot going on at the barn..a Charity Trail Class show for a kid that needs heart surgery. I think it will be a ton of fun it will be Gracie's first show. I think we are going to do In Hand Trail and Jr. Horse. Wish us luck. There will also be a bake sale and raffle. I'm pretty excited about it.

Then Drill is starting up at the barn. The barn is a busy place these days. Although I've been kind of avoiding it this week after Sundays SB conversation. Better to stay away then say something I'll regret later.

It's the breed....

Did you know that all Saddlebred and Saddlebred cross's,

1. Continuously play with the bit

2. Spook unpredictably

3. Kick in there stalls

4. Don't like their blankets

5. Are flighty

6. Can't be trail horses

7. Can only do English, without a mountain of extra training.

8. Eat their Hay funny

Well from my limited experience the fact that "The Breed" is crazy can be said for just about any breed. I know that Grace is different from the other horses in the barn..and I know that she can be spirited, she is only 3 after all. I have faith that she will blaze trails with me in the future, that's why she's in training. Not for me to be told that she will never be perfect. Is any horse perfect? Can any horse spook unpredictably? Sure...are Grace and I both Green? You bet. But I plan on sticking this partnership out. She'll be exposed to various different things, trails, some open shows, some play days..and I think that will make her a better all around horse in the long run.

She's in training till the beginning of the year. To get miles on her and get her to move out and learn baby lessons that I can't teach her.

I don't expect her to be a seasoned trail horse but I hope that she has gained some confidence and will have a great foundation to build on.

I do wish that people with opinions would sometimes keep them to themselves..especially when it comes to breed prejudice.

Oh for example...today I went out to watch Gracie's workout and the BO also had her pad-a-wan out working one of the QH's...and they decided to work on the dreaded "taking off of the windbreaker while mounted" well here is when the BO would think that the SB cross would flip a gasket and loose her mind..but wouldn't you know the SB cross had 1/8th of the freak out that the QH did... It must be the breed....Gracie even had the jacket over her head and did just fine! (wish I had a picture of that one)

Just needed to vent...P.S. I love the breed...quirks and all

Gracie goes to the Dentist...

Or the Dentist comes to Grace..as the case may be. So she's been refusing the bit again and it was time for a float anyway so her vet came out tonight and she had two caps (baby teeth) and an actual front baby tooth that was loose any way.

So I'm hoping that this is part of the reason she's been such a snot lately when it comes to taking the bit.

The BO has started working with her, I heard that she let out a little buck when she was actually asked to work, and was being a very naughty 3 year old until she figured out she wasn't going to get her way.

I'll keep you posted on her progress. She will be a trail horse! We don't call her the money pit for nothin'.